Stormchild

Stormchild is back with a new album called "Lightning Never Strikes Twice", produced by legendary Chris Tsangarides (RIP), we talked to drummer Chris Mitchell, about the new album and the early days.

Q. - So, Stormchild is back together, was it hard to reunite the bands line-up? What is the current line-up?

Chris - It was difficult to track down the original members as two had moved to Los Angeles, I was living in Greece at the time and Geoff and Neil were at opposite ends of the UK. However Chris Tsangarides helped via Facebook to get the guys back together again.

The current line up is the same as in 1979, Ian bridge (Vocals), Chris Mitchell (Drums), Neil McCurley (Keyboards), Geoff Harwood (Guitars), and Joe Rodmell (Bass).

Q. - "Lightning Never Strikes Twice" is out now, what expectations do you have for it?

Chris - We really think it’s a great Rock album and it sounds unlike anything out there at the moment. After 35 years people are telling us that it sounds really fresh and unique. We are hoping it will attract interest from a label so it can be released on Vinyl and CD. Chris Tsangarides was going to be involved with its distribution by using his contacts in the industry, but unfortunately he is no longer with us, it is so sad he never got to see it published.

If we don’t get record company interest we will release the vinyl and CD’s ourselves, but I think if the right people get to hear it….who Knows?

Q. - I think this is the last work Chris Tsangarides did producing albums, how do you feel about it?

Chris - Yes, it is his last work and we have very mixed emotions. There is sadness at his passing, but we know how pleased he was to work with the band after 35 years and how much he loved the songs, and it was his efforts that brought the band together. We feel proud of the fact that we were the last band he produced. The fact that Chris wanted to be involved with promoting the band after the album was produced was very inspiring for us, kind of another Anvil situation but with better songs J

Q. - Will you go out on tour, or try to play some festivals?

Chris - Hopefully, yes. It is all down to logistics because two of us live in the states and the rest are spread around the UK, but gigging at a festival again would be great.

Q. - Back in 82, Stormchild released the single "Rockin' Steady", did the single have airplay on radio stations? How was it received by the heavy metal community?

Chris - Yes, it was played on the radio, but not on the mainstream. As ever, pop music dominated the airwaves, but we were featured on a number of independent stations and I know it was played a lot on the continent in countries such as Greece, but we never realised it at the time. We got good reviews in Kerrang and Melody maker also for the single which were the major rock publications at the time. Rockin’ Steady achieved a sort of cult status that we never realised until after the Millenium. There are copies selling for over £2,500 and one for sale at £4.6K!

It’s unbelievable, but Rockin Steady is officially the highest valued NWOBHM single of all time. We are really proud of that fact, but we thought it wasn’t one of our strongest songs. The record company liked its commercial sound and appeal, so that was the song they used to attract a producer.

Q. - Did you try to find a record deal after the single edition?

Chris - The single Rockin Steady was produced to try and find a record producer to work with us on an album.

50 copies were made and sent to the likes of Mutt Lange, Roy Thomas Baker and Chris Tsangarides. It was Chris who came back first with the desire to produce us. We had a deal with Kilo records who cut the single with us and released it under the serpent name so that the label would be anonymous to everyone. I designed the artwork and it was sent out as a white label recording. Over time song titles were added, but the original ones had nothing on the label.

Q. - Why did the band split up at that time? What do you think went wrong with Stormchild to achieve real success?

Chris - Our promotions company went bust and we were very disillusioned at the time. We had a flat paid for us in London to go to and we had all given up careers to pursue our musical dreams. The company went bust on the eve of us saying goodbye to family and friends before we went to London! The van was packed and we were ready to go when we got the phone call. To say we were gutted is an understatement.

We all had high expectations, but we were in our late teens and very hot headed at the time and from being at such a high point our world fell apart. We had internal squabbles over all sorts of trivia, we couldn’t agree on a manager that the record company wanted us to sign to, it was a messy time. We were booked to be launched to the UK press on a Thames river boat prior to going to the states to support Bob Seger, but we split up before we got to do any of it, crazy eh?

Q. - Did you stay in touch with the other former members over the years?

Chris - No, apart from Geoff who I sort of kept in touch with. It was so sad, we were all mates, but the situation we found ourselves in just meant we drifted apart. Ian and joe packed their bags and went to the states and we just lost touch with each other completely.

Q. - Were you happy with the edition of "Maiden Voyage" by HRR in 2012? Was it like a dream come true?

Chris - We were happy that something had been released and the packaging of the album was great, but it was just a collection of demo tapes that we had recorded for the record company, and also some other tracks that were recorded on an 8 track with a couple of different band members. It was good that there was an album released, but it wasn’t representative of how good we really were.

High Roller did a great job of cleaning up the sound as it was all taken from cassette tapes that were 25 years old!

I have some original 2inch tapes, but nobody has the equipment to play them anymore. The release of the album did prompt Chris to track down the band to make a proper first album, something he wanted to do in 1982 but never got the chance to. There’s probably a copy of the single somewhere in his house still?

Q. - I presume that was an honour for you to take part of a movement as important as the NWOBHM, tell us a bit about those days and the impact it had in general?

Chris - We really didn’t call it NWOBHM at the time. There was some exciting bands coming out of the scene such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, Def Leppard etc. and our influences were very mixed and varied from UFO, Scorpions, Sweet, City Boy, Genesis, etc. etc.. Everybody in the band brought a huge diversity of styles of music with them that it made for an eclectic mix in our music.

There was so many bands about at the time and you had to be good to get noticed. We also used a lot of pyrotechnics in our shows like smoke bombs and theatrical cannons, but fire regulations stopped us from using them at many venues. The band built up a reputation as a good live act and it was a really exciting time to be in a band.

Our music had a hard edge to it but the use of keyboards gave us a different element to many of our peers. We came out with the NWOBHM movement and are proud to be seen as pioneers of it, but we think our music had a different dimension to many bands with elements of Prog and melodic rock also. We think Lightning Never Strikes Twice is a great showcase for the Stormchild sound. Chris did a great job in capturing that.

Q. - Anything more you want to say, to end up this interview?

Chris - Yes, the band would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to listen to our music and held the torch for us. We never realised how much impact we had in such a short career, which is quite humbling.

Please enjoy the new album played LOUD, we have dedicated it to the Dark Lord (Chris Tsangarides) and we hope it is seen as a fitting tribute to a good friend of the band.

Thank you for your time, and wish you all the best for the future!

Chris - Many thanks Paulo, hope to see you at a gig some time!